LUKE ROPERDirectors conceptThe scene I am directing begins on page 23 and details the events immediately post-matthew shepards death. To be precise, the moment when Matthew shepard's death is announced to the world. i wanted to give the scene a cold detached clinical, tragic feel. I want the audience to be shocked by the detached clinical way that the people involved deal with matthew's death. The basic, unemotive voices emphasise Matthew's death as the centre of the scene and does not let individual actors detract form the purpose of the scene. My SetON the set, at center, on an elevated platform is matthew shepard and the others are gathered around him. The characters turn around and face the audience one by one to deliver their lines.Dramatic forms and performance stylesI start the scene with all the characters with their back to the audience, this sets the scene up to be dark and emotional.Rehearsal ideasAnnotated script and basic blocking Hate crimes - real or media beat up?Have you experienced hate crimes?Prejudice? Reflection? 1.) what information can we draw from these voices?2.) can we estimate the age, gender, education, cultural background and emotional state of the speaker?3.) how do they feel about being interviewed? Keep ears open for unique quirks and peculiaritiesAudio scriptingFaithful reproduction of speech patternsExplore characterScribe some dialogueTurn into a one minute piece. Verbatim Theatre
What I understand of verbatim theatre so far: "verbatim" means 'word for word', or 'exactly the same words used in the original statement'. In Verbatim theatre, the playwright interviews various people who are somehow connected to the topic; then uses their statements 'word for word' as the dialogue within the play. Playwrights are very careful to maintain authenticity and realism and not to alter the story. In order to do this, they ensure that none of the dialogue be changed or rearranged. Verbatim theatre seeks to inspire discussion and action on an accurately presented topic, not to mock or misrepresent. In this way, the actors must also be very careful in their physicality and speech, to give a realistic performance but not overact or parody. You can gather form the name that the dialogue is going to be very important in this kind of theatre. As the focus lies with the script, often there is little action happening on stage. Therefore actors have to rely heavily on their voice to present their characters. Verbatim theatre often focusses on poignant social or political disasters.
Run Rabbit Run: I've been rather confused about how to stage and perform RRR. I'm not quite sure about how I'm supposed to be acting and engaging the audience. It seems as though our directions so far have been that we stay fairly static and just deliver our lines when our turn comes around. I've been struggling with trying to adopt a voice, and accent without mocking and over-acting or being fairly monotone and under-acting.
1. How do rituals relate to the Existentialist philosophy behind the Theatre of the Absurd?
Rituals help to give meaning to a meaningless life and help keep people happy and contented. When people are pre occupied with a ritual or task they do not have a chance to think other deeper things. Life is meaningless according to the existentialists but if we give ourselves a task or a goal to accomplish it helps to overlook that.
2. Describe some of the choices you have made in the blocking of your scene to enhance the audience experience of rituals? You'll need to comment on the positioning and interaction of characters and how you perform actions and gestures
The scene is set so that I visit all the areas of the stage in sequence, in order. My movements around the stage become their own ritual.
Dulcie is in a last ditch attempt to catch lewis' attention. She has tried multiple things and now she thinks dressing like a boy will get her noticed. She eventually becomes fed up and frustrated and calls him a child. He brushes off her advances and ignores her. Maybe because he is afraid, he doesnt really view women as sexual objects, he has a single mother household.
Dulcie, friends with Lewis. Likes him very much. throughout the play she tries to catch his attention. Part of her attraction to him is attributed to him is his lack of sex drive. Anyone who resembles her father is a turn off.
Near the power station, there is the hum of the electriciy throughout the scene. set In Melbourne. Summer Of the Aliens Scene Three Act Three.Dulcie
Line _
Subtext/Objectives
Action/Response
___
Hello Mr PisanoWhat Are you doing?
Curious, why is Pisano out so late at night? what is he doing
with the paint tin?
Strolls over curiously and cross examines Pisano.
I'm waiting for Lewis
Annoyed that lewis is late
Changes her tone from curious to angry. She snaps at him.
Allah, be praised, Allah, be praised. You're lateAllah, be praised
Lewis has finally arrived. Affectionately attempting to make
him feel guilty, by mocking and sarcastically praising.
Drops to the floor and mock praises him.
I'm not an Orthodox Moslem, right?
frustrated that he is seemingly unaffected by the display
Sits on the floor. head downcast.
What's the matter with it?
She has dressed up as a boy to please Lewis and now
it seems despite her best efforts, he isnt impressed by it.
She's hurt and angry
Turns and looks up, clearly cross. snaps the line at him.
Do you know what I think? I think life is only a dream, We're the dream of a mentally-ill angel!
trying to get on the same wave length, level with him.
Floating. she rushes over to him and tries to get his attention.
Maybe aliens have taken over someone like Mr Pisano? it's possible, isn't it? He's doing his rounds but no one is getting mail.
Similar to above, wants to talk about something that will
get his attention.
Similar to above, gets in his way; forces him to pay her attention
It's your sister Bev. She's with BrianIt isHe probably liked it.In the creek doing it.
Mischievous and slightly antagonistic; she wants to talk
about sex and relationships.
Hiding behind the blocks, whispering.
you like me dressed as a boy?You like my hair up?Like this
She thins lewis likes boys, she thinks the reason he is
upset about seeing his sister with brian is that he has a
thing for brian.
stand up, approaches him
You really prefer boys, don't you?Are you jealous that Brian is with your sister?
angry and frustrated at his rejection of her.
Yells at him
Pretend I'm a boy.I'll lick your feet like a Thai man
Desperate for him to like her.
Pleading.
Can't, your sister's got in before me.You're a child.
Gives up. She is frustrated and angry and hurt by his actions.
angry and upset. She lands one last insult before storming out in a huff.
Character profile - Stuart Tusspot (a.k.a 2-D, Stu-pot)
Born in Crawley - England. Age: 23
His father, David Pot, worked as a mechanic and owner of the Tusspot's Fairground. His mother, Rachel Pot, was a nurse
2D had a lack of interest and ambition at school but he got fairly good grades. He is nicknamed 2D because of his '2 Dents' 8 ball fractures in his skull causing him to have black pockets where his eyes ought to be. These injuries were caused by serious blows to the head. A side effect of these injuries is that 2D is addicted to headache pills. People think he's cool and enigmatic but he's just got a migraine. Says nothing controversial, says nothing much at all. 2D is part of the (somewhat) famous band, Gorillaz; for which is does vocals and plays synth. He has been fascinated with technology and instruments ever since he and his father rebuilt a Casio VL 10 keyboard. 2D is skinny and lanky. 2D's eyes turn white every once in a while when he is nervous but they return to black once this has passed. 2d has a cockney (or thereabouts) accent.
ultimately aimless and deeply disillusioned. He is vacant and his intelligence is reputedly negligible. "2D would appear to have a chronic history of violent blows to the head, coupled with a complete lack of natural inelligence.
RELATIONSHIPS: Idolised his friend murdoc who he believes saved his life, however 2D has recently developed a grudge against Murdoc, for sticking him in a room below sea level, and for paying a whale to watch him constantly, because, according to 2D, "Murdoc knows I hate whales." 2D even seems resentful of Murdoc, particularly in the fourth Radio Pirate broadcast.. Formerly close to his father who helped developed his interest in keyboard, but they have since grown apart due to distance. His mother supplied him with headache pills and helped developed his addiction.
GOOD HABITS:
BAD HABITS: Heavy cigarette, alcohol and painkiller addictions, often leaves his mouth hanging open. His posture is terrible and his neck angles outward from his collar. Often blankly staring at nothing. Womaniser. Extremely poor dental hygiene (missing his front two teeth and he has multiple gold teeth.
LIKES: 2D is into alternative, experimental music > see album: 'plastic beach. 2D's musical idol is augusto pablo. one summer 2D's Dad "gave [him] a job collecting money from the 'Switchback Ride'. Hopping from carriage to carriage, chatting up birds, these were the greatest days of 2D's life."
DISLIKES: Hates whales. has extreme Cetaphobia after being bitten by a whale at some point in his life. hates confrontations, often loses arguments with Murdoc.
WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER'S SUPER-OBJECTIVE? Escape to plastic beach.
Why does 2D want to go to McDonalds?
Want some time alone to work on my latest project, an album 'the fall' which I am constructing in secret. Hopefully McDonalds wont be too crowded in the middle of the day. Working on the fall which is the first album ever produced to be made solely with iPad musical applications.
2-D - Gorillaz Wiki
itsthefiendishthingy:georgeharrisonsgirl:teddy-boy:look that neck and hair and sweater ughhhhe’s a turtleAn awkward turtle..
Lewis is uninterested in dulcie in scene one, act one. He reluctantly diverts his attention away from the shooting range and peels of her sunburnt skin. his focus is on the range, the spent cartridges and his fantasy world where aliens abduct and conduct experiments on humans. His father has left and is now in a single parent household. It's set in 1962, cold war era. This means that there are fears of Cuban missile strikes and other military attacks. Lewis is probably interested in war and fighting and that is why he wants to collect the spent cartridges from the range. He lives in a housing commission in Melbourne, on Singapore street - all the streets in his neighborhood are named after Australian conflicts. Poor land,
working class.
Lewis in scene eleven act one hopes to detach himself from the situation. Lewis organised the meetingHe does not want to take part in brian's choice activities. He sees dulcie as a childhood friend, a sister-figure whom he has no sexual desire for. He would not be there if not for brian. He does not even want to look at her breasts, at least not under these circumstances. He becomes even more uncomfortable when Brian starts burning dulcie with a magnifying glass. He becomes frantic, he wants to run away from what's happening so he ends the violence with force and then pleads with Brian to leave, which they do.
Summer of the Aliens - scene 1 act 1
What are the given circumstances? Refer to detail from the text.
TIME- when is it set? What decade? Time of year? How does this affect the characters?
Where is it set? How does this physical environment effect the characters?
Personal circumstances of the characters?
Why is voice important?
The voice is one of the actors tools, it helps define the character. it is important for the voice to be clear, well projected, expressive and dynamic. The voice delivers another shade of realism to the character and makes them more well defined. A unique voice makes the character easily recognisable and distinguishable from other characters.
What were some exercises?
There were two exercises that I can recall that we took part in today that were designed to develop the voice in drama. One such exercise involved speaking in gibberish to each other. This was in order to focus on the way we say thing, pitch variations when asking questions, being angry, the tempo change when angry, frustrated and relaxed, rather than focussing on what was being said. the other exercise was repeating hamlets famous line "to Be or not to be" in various areas of the room, this was to achieve a similar goal as the previous exercise. We tried saying it in a happy way, a depressed way, etc.
Emotion memory page41 how does it work in acting?
Emotion memory is a technique developed and used by Stanislavski. It involves recalling a previous memory or emotion and attempting to live through the moment again in order to replicate/imitate a characters emotions. This can be useful when the character you want to portray is experiencing something you yourself have felt. You think of a situation that provoked the same emotional response and use it to your advantage.
Objectives/ obstacles
Drama becomes interesting when there are complex and engaging objectives and obstacles. The way that the obstacles are overcome and objectives achieved makes for an entertaining piece. For example simple objectives such as: walking from one end of the room to another or getting something to eat would be very boring. A complex objective such as a prison break can make for great drama.
Hate crimes - real or media beat up?Have you experienced hate crimes?Prejudice? Reflection?
1.) what information can we draw from these voices?2.) can we estimate the age, gender, education, cultural background and emotional state of the speaker?3.) how do they feel about being interviewed?
Keep ears open for unique quirks and peculiaritiesAudio scriptingFaithful reproduction of speech patternsExplore characterScribe some dialogueTurn into a one minute piece.
Verbatim Theatre
What I understand of verbatim theatre so far: "verbatim" means 'word for word', or 'exactly the same words used in the original statement'. In Verbatim theatre, the playwright interviews various people who are somehow connected to the topic; then uses their statements 'word for word' as the dialogue within the play. Playwrights are very careful to maintain authenticity and realism and not to alter the story. In order to do this, they ensure that none of the dialogue be changed or rearranged. Verbatim theatre seeks to inspire discussion and action on an accurately presented topic, not to mock or misrepresent. In this way, the actors must also be very careful in their physicality and speech, to give a realistic performance but not overact or parody. You can gather form the name that the dialogue is going to be very important in this kind of theatre. As the focus lies with the script, often there is little action happening on stage. Therefore actors have to rely heavily on their voice to present their characters. Verbatim theatre often focusses on poignant social or political disasters.
Run Rabbit Run: I've been rather confused about how to stage and perform RRR. I'm not quite sure about how I'm supposed to be acting and engaging the audience. It seems as though our directions so far have been that we stay fairly static and just deliver our lines when our turn comes around. I've been struggling with trying to adopt a voice, and accent without mocking and over-acting or being fairly monotone and under-acting.
RITUALS.
1. How do rituals relate to the Existentialist philosophy behind the Theatre of the Absurd?
Rituals help to give meaning to a meaningless life and help keep people happy and contented. When people are pre occupied with a ritual or task they do not have a chance to think other deeper things. Life is meaningless according to the existentialists but if we give ourselves a task or a goal to accomplish it helps to overlook that.
2. Describe some of the choices you have made in the blocking of your scene to enhance the audience experience of rituals? You'll need to comment on the positioning and interaction of characters and how you perform actions and gestures
The scene is set so that I visit all the areas of the stage in sequence, in order. My movements around the stage become their own ritual.
Dulcie is in a last ditch attempt to catch lewis' attention. She has tried multiple things and now she thinks dressing like a boy will get her noticed. She eventually becomes fed up and frustrated and calls him a child. He brushes off her advances and ignores her. Maybe because he is afraid, he doesnt really view women as sexual objects, he has a single mother household.
Dulcie, friends with Lewis. Likes him very much. throughout the play she tries to catch his attention. Part of her attraction to him is attributed to him is his lack of sex drive. Anyone who resembles her father is a turn off.
Near the power station, there is the hum of the electriciy throughout the scene. set In Melbourne.
Summer Of the Aliens Scene Three Act Three.Dulcie
___
with the paint tin?
him feel guilty, by mocking and sarcastically praising.
it seems despite her best efforts, he isnt impressed by it.
She's hurt and angry
dream, We're the dream of a mentally-ill angel!
Pisano? it's possible, isn't it?
He's doing his rounds but no one is getting mail.
get his attention.
about sex and relationships.
upset about seeing his sister with brian is that he has a
thing for brian.
Character profile - Stuart Tusspot (a.k.a 2-D, Stu-pot)
Born in Crawley - England. Age: 23
His father, David Pot, worked as a mechanic and owner of the Tusspot's Fairground. His mother, Rachel Pot, was a nurse
2D had a lack of interest and ambition at school but he got fairly good grades. He is nicknamed 2D because of his '2 Dents' 8 ball fractures in his skull causing him to have black pockets where his eyes ought to be. These injuries were caused by serious blows to the head. A side effect of these injuries is that 2D is addicted to headache pills. People think he's cool and enigmatic but he's just got a migraine. Says nothing controversial, says nothing much at all. 2D is part of the (somewhat) famous band, Gorillaz; for which is does vocals and plays synth. He has been fascinated with technology and instruments ever since he and his father rebuilt a Casio VL 10 keyboard. 2D is skinny and lanky. 2D's eyes turn white every once in a while when he is nervous but they return to black once this has passed. 2d has a cockney (or thereabouts) accent.
ultimately aimless and deeply disillusioned. He is vacant and his intelligence is reputedly negligible. "2D would appear to have a chronic history of violent blows to the head, coupled with a complete lack of natural inelligence.
Personality: Apathetic, dazed, anxious, quiet, loner,
Why does 2D want to go to McDonalds?
Want some time alone to work on my latest project, an album 'the fall' which I am constructing in secret. Hopefully McDonalds wont be too crowded in the middle of the day. Working on the fall which is the first album ever produced to be made solely with iPad musical applications.
Lewis is uninterested in dulcie in scene one, act one. He reluctantly diverts his attention away from the shooting range and peels of her sunburnt skin. his focus is on the range, the spent cartridges and his fantasy world where aliens abduct and conduct experiments on humans. His father has left and is now in a single parent household. It's set in 1962, cold war era. This means that there are fears of Cuban missile strikes and other military attacks. Lewis is probably interested in war and fighting and that is why he wants to collect the spent cartridges from the range. He lives in a housing commission in Melbourne, on Singapore street - all the streets in his neighborhood are named after Australian conflicts. Poor land,
working class.
Lewis in scene eleven act one hopes to detach himself from the situation. Lewis organised the meetingHe does not want to take part in brian's choice activities. He sees dulcie as a childhood friend, a sister-figure whom he has no sexual desire for. He would not be there if not for brian. He does not even want to look at her breasts, at least not under these circumstances. He becomes even more uncomfortable when Brian starts burning dulcie with a magnifying glass. He becomes frantic, he wants to run away from what's happening so he ends the violence with force and then pleads with Brian to leave, which they do.
Summer of the Aliens - scene 1 act 1
What are the given circumstances? Refer to detail from the text.
TIME- when is it set? What decade? Time of year? How does this affect the characters?
Where is it set? How does this physical environment effect the characters?
Personal circumstances of the characters?
Why is voice important?
The voice is one of the actors tools, it helps define the character. it is important for the voice to be clear, well projected, expressive and dynamic. The voice delivers another shade of realism to the character and makes them more well defined. A unique voice makes the character easily recognisable and distinguishable from other characters.
What were some exercises?
There were two exercises that I can recall that we took part in today that were designed to develop the voice in drama. One such exercise involved speaking in gibberish to each other. This was in order to focus on the way we say thing, pitch variations when asking questions, being angry, the tempo change when angry, frustrated and relaxed, rather than focussing on what was being said. the other exercise was repeating hamlets famous line "to Be or not to be" in various areas of the room, this was to achieve a similar goal as the previous exercise. We tried saying it in a happy way, a depressed way, etc.
Emotion memory page41 how does it work in acting?
Emotion memory is a technique developed and used by Stanislavski. It involves recalling a previous memory or emotion and attempting to live through the moment again in order to replicate/imitate a characters emotions. This can be useful when the character you want to portray is experiencing something you yourself have felt. You think of a situation that provoked the same emotional response and use it to your advantage.
Objectives/ obstacles
Drama becomes interesting when there are complex and engaging objectives and obstacles. The way that the obstacles are overcome and objectives achieved makes for an entertaining piece. For example simple objectives such as: walking from one end of the room to another or getting something to eat would be very boring. A complex objective such as a prison break can make for great drama.